News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
-
Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
-
Public seminar on Phuket’s green issues
PHUKET: Green issues in city planning for Phuket will be addressed by government and public authorities at Phuket’s first free seminar on the subject, to be held at the Phuket Merlin Hotel this Friday.The seminar, titled PA+S FORUM – Issue Green Attention, will be attended by key speakers from the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planing, Phuket…
-
Miss Poland contestants touch down in Phuket
PHUKET: Eyebrows and blood pressures were raised in Phuket this evening when 25 Miss Poland contestants touched down at Phuket international Airport.The Polish beauty pageant contestants are in Phuket courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and they’ll be visiting various venues around the island over the next few days, taking part in a series of photo shoots.TAT’s Frankfurt Office director Suwalai Pinpradab accompanied…
-
Phuket drug cases up 161%
PHUKET: Crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police for September show that wet weather has not put a damper on recreational drug use, as narcotics-related cases were up 161%. There were 230 drug cases reported over the period, an increase of 161.4% year-on-year. Police arrested 250 people and confiscated a wide variety of narcotics, including 5,271 ya bah (methamphetamine)…
-
Phuket’s Sleeping Giant: Shared ownership of property
PHUKET: Shared ownership sales of Phuket properties reached US$ 61.2 million for 2008, validating the sector’s stability despite the economic downturn, according to a comprehensive research study into the industry. The ‘Phuket Shared Ownership Market Report’, compiled by leading Phuket-based hospitality consulting firm C9 Hotelworks, is seen as a natural development in Phuket’s tourism industry, which is well on its…
-
Bangla beggar’s raking it in: Phuket police
PATONG, PHUKET: On a night patrol in the early hours of Monday morning, Patong’s top cop showed a crowd of shocked tourists just how much money Phuket’s beggars can make. Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark stopped a known beggar in front of the Pizza Company restaurant on the famous Soi Bangla entertainment strip. When the contents of the old man’s…
-
Phuket prepares for qwacky ‘Race Day’
PHUKET: A host of ‘wacky races’ will take place during the Phuket Community Foundation’s ‘Race Day’ at Canal Village in Laguna Phuket next month. The aim of Race Day is to raise funds for grant-making at the end of the year and to raise awareness of the PCF and its activities. The day will feature kayak races, dragon boat racing,…
-
Phuket road blockade over Islamic cemetery
THALANG, PHUKET: Around 500 angry villagers blockaded Phuket’s Thepkrasattri Road for two hours yesterday after forestry officials arrested about 30 Muslims for trying to clear protected forest land.Those arrested wanted to use 30 rai of Pa Bang Khanun Reserved Forest to build a new cemetery for Muslims from Tambon Thepkrasattri villages 6, 8 and 9.One of those was the imam…
-
Dragons rounded up before Phuket’s veg fest
PHUKET CITY: Three members of the so-called ‘Dragon Gang’ wanted for a string of robberies in Phuket City were arrested yesterday as part of a pre-Vegetarian Festival crackdown.Thanachote ‘Liw’ Saekhor, 19, Kriangsak Sawasduang, 21, and Rachan Khumphum, 27, all had intricate dragons tattooed on their backs, earning the gang its police nickname.Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong and Phuket City…
-
OPINION: Roy the right word for Phuket music fest
Phuket likes to think of itself as the island that offers something for everyone.But the major events that take place here tell us a lot about the sort of tourists the island is best at attracting.The Blues Festival, the Old Town Festival, the King’s Cup: all perfectly respectable, but much more appealing to the old than the young.While Phuket is…
-
Phuket people pray for King’s health
PHUKET: Muslim and Thai-Chinese religious groups held independent mass prayer meetings in Phuket yesterday to wish His Majesty the King a quick recovery as he receives treatment for a fever and a lung infection at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.More than 1,000 Muslims gathered in prayer yesterday afternoon at the Dubai Mosque, Koh Kaew, which is also the location of the…
-
Phuket sea rescue service improvements on the way
PHUKET: Following a Cabinet ruling this week, the Andaman Sea Rescue Service (ASRS) is set to receive 18 million baht to splash out on new speedboats and lifesaving equipment.The decision came as welcome news to the overstretched ASRS Phuket, which currently operates sea rescue services in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong and Trang provinces along the Andaman coast.With the new…
-
Countdown clocks put Phuket motorists at ease
PHUKET: Drivers are likely to have noticed new countdown displays that have been installed at eight Phuket intersections recently.The work has been funded by the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization to the tune of three million baht.The intersections where the countdowns have been installed are at Phuket International Airport, Bangku, Samkong, Darasamut, Wat Naka, Kajornkiat School, Laemchan and Ban Teen Khao.“We’ve…
-
“Floating gold’ washing up on Phuket beach
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The most expensive excrement in the world has been washing up on a Phuket beach since last weekend: ambergris, or ‘floating gold’, as it is known.Villagers living near Mai Khao Beach have been scrambling to collect the substance, which begins life as bile excreted by sperm whales and is extremely valuable.Several hundred kilograms of it have already…
-
Polish beauties bound for Phuket
PHUKET: Gentlemen at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday evening (Oct 7) will get a generous eyeful when 25 Miss Poland 2009 contestants arrive aboard their Bangkok Airways flight. The Slavic beauties are spending 10 days in Thailand as part of a ‘preparation camp’ ahead of the final competition in Poland. As well as Phuket, the girls are set to visit…
-
Bt300mn historical park slated for Phuket
THALANG, PHUKET: A 300-million-baht historical park commemorating the Battle of Thalang is being planned as a new tourist attraction for Phuket.More than forty architects have submitted designs for landscaping of the new ‘Victory Park’, which will occupy 96 rai in tambon Thepkrasattri, next to Thalang Museum.One winning design will be selected on March 13, 2010, the 224th anniversary of the…
-
Aussies’ turn for shore leave in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: Royal Australian Navy fleet replenishment vessel HMAS Sirius, with a complement of 70 officers and crew, is anchored off Patong for a five-day stay. The ship has been at sea for the past seven months.On Tuesday, the ship’s captain, Commander John Cowan, paid a visit to Phuket governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, where he told the assembled press, “We are…
-
Punchline Comedy Club returns to Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: British TV comedy star Bob Mills is among the noted funnymen performing at Punchline Comedy Club when it returns to Phuket on October 14. Mills is best known as star of TV show ‘In Bed With Medinner’, and has a long list of presenting and writing credits under his belt. Time Out magazine called him “a master of…
-
Dugong’s last moments a frantic fight for survival
PHUKET: Following an eight-hour autopsy of the 40-year-old female dugong found dead off the coast of Trang on Tuesday, marine biologists say the animal died from trauma and exhaustion, most probably from trying to out swim or escape entanglement in a trawling net.According to Phaothep Cherdsukjai, a researcher at Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), examination of the dugong’s pulmonary system…
-
Tsunami Watch canceled
PHUKET: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has canceled today’s tsunami watch following warnings earlier this evening that a tsunami could hit the region.The warning center’s latest and ‘final’ report issued to government agencies stated that sea level readings indicate that a significant tsunami was not generated by the magnitude 7.6 earthquake off Sumatra. — Gazette Reporters
-
Phuket tsunami alert update
PHUKET: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami alert for Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand, according to an Associated Press report.The center issued the warning following a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.6 about 50km west of Padang in Western Sumatra at 5.16pm.There were no immediate reports of a high waves or injuries, it added.An officer at the Department of…
-
Leading financial advisors put on Phuket seminar
PHUKET: Tax-free pension plans for expats will be on the menu of financial advice served up by international investment gurus at the Holiday Inn Resort, Patong Beach tomorrow night.Award-winning fund management advisor Sam Liddle will be joined by Billy Popham – ‘the first Financial Adviser in Thailand to successfully effect transfers from UK pensions to QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension…
-
Phuket storms caused by killer typhoon
PHUKET CITY: The rain lashing down on Phuket this week is not normal monsoon rain but the outer rings of Typhoon Ketsana, which arrived in Thailand today, according to Phuket Meteorological Office. Phuket Meteorological Officer Sophon Sanggaew said the conditions would persist for another two or three days. Typhoon Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall in…
-
Phuket autopsy for large dugong
PHUKET: A large female dugong measuring almost three meters long and weighing more than a third of a ton died off the coast of Trang and was brought to Phuket for examination yesterday.The crew of a squid fishing boat found the dugong dying in the sea between Koh Libong and Koh Laoliang in yesterday morning.By the time officials from the Office…
-
Phuket Passport Office opens Thursday
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s Thai citizens will be able to apply for new passports without leaving the island once the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs office opens at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday.Foreigners hoping for visa services, certificate translations and marriage certification services will have to wait, however.Acting chief of the ministry’s passport section, Jackrid Kanjanasoon, said the office will begin…
-
Crowd batters thieves at Phuket’s Roy Fest
KARON, PHUKET: Chalong Police officers had to defend three suspected thieves who were set upon by revelers at Phuket’s otherwise highly successful Roy Fest concert on Karon Beach. The attack took place in the early hours of Saturday morning. Karon village chief Winai Chitchiew said the three suspects, Wittaya Khahapana, 30, Rachet Harun, 25, and Manusak Kobthing, 20, were all…
-
Phuket Vegetarian Festival drives need for blood
PHUKET CITY: Entranced participants at Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival can pierce their faces with sharp objects, sprint across hot coals and climb knife-blade ladders – without shedding blood, according to local belief. But that hasn’t stopped Phuket Regional Blood Center launching a fresh donation drive in time for the festival, which starts on October 18. Porntip Rattajak, the center’s acting chief,…
-
Fun-filled sunset fundraiser on the beach
PHUKET: Catch an earful of live reggae and the latest dance grooves at Catch Beach Club for Patong Rotary Club’s Beach Fun Fest fundraiser on Saturday, October 17.Reggae band Job 2 Do and a handful of international DJs will be pumping out the tunes at the beach from sunset onwards.Tickets are 1,000 each and include a seafood barbecue and the…
-
Aussies put Phuket in World Top 10
PHUKET: According to statistics released to the Phuket Gazette today by giant hotel booking website Wotif.com, Australians have changed their travel patterns and are visiting Asia more and more. And Phuket has ascended into the mega-site’s Top Ten world destinations over the past two years. Pointing to the website’s league tables below, Kristy Harrison, Wotif’s Marketing Director for Asia, notes…
-
Phuket people help spread global message of peace
PHUKET: Tonight, people in Phuket will be dancing to a global beat of peace for Earthdance 2009, an annual, synchronized event held every September in hundreds of locations around the world in recognition of the United Nations International Day of Peace.At 4pm Pacific Standard Time on Saturday, September 26 (6am Sunday in Thailand), thousands of people in more than 200…
-
Regional IT experts head for Phuket software forum
PHUKET: More than 300 software development experts from nine countries are expected to attend the The Asia Oceania Software Park Forum 2009 scheduled to take place in Phuket next month.The regional IT forum, which will also include the IT Architect Regional Conference 2009, is jointly organized by Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) and Phuket’s recently-opened Software Park.The three-day seminar will…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.